BR Ambedkar's 59th death anniversary: Inspiring quotes by principal architect of India's Constitution

6 December marks the death anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (BR Ambedkar), the principal architect of the Indian Constitution.

Sunday marks the 59th death anniversary of Ambedkar, who died in his sleep in 1956 at his home in New Delhi.

Born in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, on 14 April, 1891, Ambedkar served as independent India's first law minister.

Often called Babasaheb, he is known for his fights against social discrimination of Dalits, women and labourers.

Check out some of the inspiring quotes by Ambedkar:

The relationship between husband and wife should be one of closest friends.

Life should be great rather than long.

In Hinduism, conscience, reason and independent thinking have no scope for development.

I like the religion that teaches liberty, equality and fraternity.

I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.

We are Indians, firstly and lastly.

Men are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Otherwise both will wither and die.

So long as you do not achieve social liberty, whatever freedom is provided by the law is of no avail to you.

Religion must mainly be a matter of principles only. It cannot be a matter of rules. The moment it degenerates into rules, it ceases to be a religion, as it kills responsibility which is an essence of the true religious act.

Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives. Man's life is independent. He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self.